Podcast

Teach Your Children To Relax For A Better Night’s Sleep

A few months ago, we did a three-hour session for a group of 80 people where the facilitator asked, “What is your greatest stress?” The majority of the responses were “my children”.

Ask yourself the same question and if you get the same answer, think about why. A lot of the time, the evening bedtime routine is the biggest problem area for parents. This used to be the case for us too. Evening would come around and I (Angie) was exhausted and not looking forward to it because our two little girls would get hyped up. It became a very stressful time for me for quite a while.

So we looked for answers. We tried and failed to force them to relax when eventually we found something that worked. We’re going to let you in on a little secret: the golden rule of parenting is to take care of your own stress.

When the evening began to draw in, we made sure we let go, created space and had our own evening routine. When we did this, we noticed the girls started to follow.

Even if you don’t have children, this golden rule still stands. Learning to create space for yourself and set yourself up for the evening is a good idea for everybody.

A lightbulb moment

Once we’d figured out what worked, we had the opportunity to teach our children how to really relax. I (Angie) found three key things that were important to creating a relaxing routine in the evening.

The first thing was preparing myself first. The second is setting the environment, and the third is creating routines and rituals within your family that works for everyone.

We are all creatures of habit, and it's no different for kids. So, once you have established a routine - something that's fun and something that you can all do together - then you'll find that the whole household flows into bed smoothly.

So how do we do it? I (Angie) get myself ready for the evening and set the environment using candles because having low light is very important. It’s so important that we changed most of our lamps from regular light bulbs to red light bulbs. I love engaging all five senses so I also use incense and relaxing essential oils in vaporisers all over the house.

I (Shane) am not as fancy as Angie. At first I wasn’t sold on the whole vaporising thing, but, it really does make a difference because it activates the brain. As for the red lights, it is a healing type of light and lets your body know it’s time to rest.

This is something I used to do when I was in the military serving on ships. To darken the ship at night all the lights were turned red because it doesn’t affect your night vision.

On the flip side, blue light wakes you up. More and more people are starting to wake up to the damage artificial light can do to your evening routine and quality of sleep. Light from lamps, TV screens, mobile phones and any other kind of digital device is probably the number one disruptor of sleep as it begins to interrupt your hormonal system. This was a big revelation to us.

This took us years to find out, but we wish we knew sooner. Because we run our business at home, we would often work into the evening, which is the worst thing you can do. We noticed it started to affect our children because if we were working, they were likely watching something or in front of some kind of screen somewhere.

We always talk about our circadian rhythm because it’s incredibly important, and we have seen the proof in the pudding with our kids.

Create your own routine

The only way around it that we’ve found is to organise our life and our time to make sure we get most of the important tasks ticked off during daylight hours. It’s doable, even with a busy life like ours. By taking the time and making the effort to do that, our house is so much more peaceful.

I (Angie) would say we've aligned our values, meaning we have put our own health, wellness, and sanity ahead of the work that needs to be done. We are now really good at getting stuff done, in certain time frames, so we can spend time with our family.

The biggest thing we’ve found from this is that when we get into gear, the kids follow. We’ve established our own routines and rituals. Now, the girls know they've got their ‘six B's of bedtime’ - something all our babysitters are taught. They are bathing, brushing (teeth and hair), bathroom, breathing, books, bed.

For the breathing routine we do three sighs and one yawn, which is a very simple yet powerful technique. It’s especially important for me as a mother to do this to manage my own energy because I’m often exhausted. Seeing me do that to relax helped my girls learn to do the same.

Then we make sure to read books to each other. The more they follow this routine every evening, the more they know what to do to kick it off.

Sleep is sacred

Modern science is now telling us that your sleep ritual, or rituals around sleep, should be sacred. We're teaching the girls now not only to create their own ritual, but to have something that they can carry on and evolve as they get older.

But the number one struggle for most people is knowing how to relax properly before sleep. You might not realise this, but eating your dinner meal before the sun goes down is hugely important. It gives the body an opportunity to be finished with food for the day, and therefore to go into its cleaning and rejuvenation cycle in the evening.

So try to find a framework that works for you and your lifestyle and test some of the ways we get ready for bed with your family. Again, if you don’t have children, it doesn’t matter. Establishing some kind of evening routine helps everyone of all ages gently glide into bed, ready for a quality night’s sleep.

We are just lucky we have children; they are our greatest teachers and we’ve learned a lot from them.

​​​​​​​This breath-work for me has created space to let go of some of the things that I’ve been holding on to, some of the fears and anxieties. Just from doing this work over the last 4 days, I find myself having a lot of energy. I’m not dragging in the afternoon. I’m not tired in the morning. I’m not tired every time I eat. I am more in line with the cycles, I am more aligned with the flow of the day.

Vera A.

I had really profound connected experience. I’m not great at sitting still and meditating. I really enjoy the blend of being able to work with the breath and be thinking about it and switching it up and down, rather than having static breathing which is how meditation is usually done.

Jacqui McNamara

For me, this is a performance tool. Performance in business, performance in health, performance in relationships… performance in happiness. This has got to be the way of the future, something that every family, every business owner, every entrepreneur should be doing.

Dr. David Dugan

“I’m feeling amazing… Full of Energy, Full of life! Really clear headed, really focused… grounded. I really recommend this to anyone out there.”

Christopher J

“Amazing people to connect with… You see people and it just shifts something in them and it takes them to another level.”

Benny Mawson

“I haven’t felt like this for years… in one session of breathing…
it’s brilliant!”

Nicola Dawber-Laye

“I recommend one million percent to connect with Shane and Ange from Breathe Me. You will never look back, it will change your life…”

Nathan Corbett

I’m the sort of person who works ridiculous hours and usually operates at very high levels of stress. Thank goodness I met the team from Breathe Me. After one class, I learned so much about the science and studies behind breathing, and how to apply that to my everyday life. I started feeling the effects straight away, and now I do their breathing exercises every morning and night.

Theodora Chan

I can’t recommend this company highly enough! In just one session they have taught me a huge amount about not only the physiology and techniques of breathing, but how to tap into an inner strength. I did not think I would enjoy the ice bath experience one bit, but I actually loved the calming aspect of it!!! And I found the breathing & meditation session absolutely incredible. Both Ange & Shane’s coaching is phenomenal. You can tell they absolutely love this subject of health & their enthusiasm is highly contagious! I would highly recommend anyone & everyone to join in with one of their classes… it’s life changing!

Ashleigh Rickman

What a powerful experience! I did not expect it to be as deep and intense.. Still shaking thinking about it. I can’t even describe the feeling. It’s something you got to try and feel to understand. I will recommend it to anyone without a doubt.
Thanks Shane and Angelina for sharing your precious knowledge.

Sylvain Mitault

Shane and Angelina are absolute minefields of information and I know from personal experience that they don’t do anything by halves. They study with the best and always give of their best, no matter the endeavour they are undertaking and they are extremely passionate about sharing this knowledge that has made such a positive difference to their own lives so that others don’t have to suffer needlessly and to empower others to become better people in all aspects of their lives too. They are the real deal, totally authentic, work really well together and made the session not just informative and practical but a lot of fun too.
I thoroughly enjoyed the session and, for the first time in a very long time, felt my body come truly alive. In fact, I haven’t felt this good in I don’t know how long. It’s only been a few days but since the first class I am already sleeping better and my energy levels have lifted enormously. I’ve learned how much a lack of oxygen can impact us and have hope that this will even help me in my attempts to slim down and get my body back to a more healthy state.
Thank you Shane and Angelina for sharing your hard earned knowledge with us. I’m excited about where this will take me into the future and very much look forward to the rest of the series.
I highly recommend this course and Shane and Angelina to everyone. It doesn’t matter who you are or what walk of life you come from you can benefit from learning to breathe better. This will likely be THE greatest gift you will give yourself.

Carolyn Smith

On the weekend I attended Shane and Ange’s Breath Me workshop… Not only did I feel great afterwards but I also learnt some amazing techniques to assist with my chosen sport.

Clayton Tierney

Essential for not just life but for your state of mind. Shane and Angelina will show you how it’s done!!

Chris Edmond

Life changing!! I’ve done numerous breathing classes, 2 ice baths (go me!) and the Stress Mastery Course. My husband and I have implemented what we’ve learnt into our daily routine and we have never been better – seriously!!! Everybody needs to learn this!

Cat Lavender

Had my first experience of breathing techniques and ice bath – will become a regular! Can’t describe the feelings you get through – feeling invincible, strong, light, healthy and powerful.
Thank you.

Ksenia Demidova

Hands down to you both for conveying such great and vital knowledge of the body…I absolutely loved the experience and will recommend to anybody. I will be back for more! Thanks!

Jeremy Bernard

With my experiences of having back issues (scoliosis) working and going to gym, doing these sessions is what I look forward to every fortnight! I’ve had such a significant decrease in aches and tightness with my back, which has no doubt led to me having the BEST sleep I’ve had in years after a day of breathing and hoping in the ice. Such a great informative morning with awesome people.

Brendan Leahy

Personally, I can not recommended Breathe Me high enough. Their lessons and attitude towards life has changed my life and breathing forever. Shane and Angelina Saunders run amazing classes filled with energy, education, clarity and humour explained so anyone can understand.
Honestly, the best thing you can do for your own optimisation is breathe, and once you learn breathing techniques, the best part is that everyone can do it. Just breathe.

Christopher John

Magical is the word I would use to describe my experiences with Angelina Saunders and Shane Saunders of Breathe Me. I’m so grateful to have started the first week of an amazing 4 week program. This has already increased my quality of life. The concepts and lessons I am learning are already causing a major change for the better in all aspects of my life. Breathe Me is without a doubt the best thing I have done for myself, after having invested a lot of time and money over the past 5 years to improve my wellbeing. There is a beautiful, enjoyable, tangible & measurable sense of achievement in attending one of these sessions and taking home a set of new skills to use moving forward.

Pip Crawford

This workshop is a MUST. I highly recommend this to anyone who is just needing some personal time to just BE or any form of stress relief. After attending this course I came away with key breathing skills to help me get through the hustle and bussle of everyday life. Id never done an ice bath before and am so glad I gave it a go. I came away from it feeling ALIVE and supercharged!! I hope you are hosting plenty more workshops here on the Gold Coast.